"It's a very sad day for theTemple UniversityFootball Family with the loss of Coach Hardin," Geoff Collins, Temple's current football coach, said in a statement. "It was an absolute honor having him at Alumni Day this past Saturday with his former players who were able to show how much love and respect they have for their legendary coach. He will be greatly missed within this community and all across college football."

Hardin is the winningest coach in program history, accumulating an 80-52-3 record over13 seasons from 1970-82. He also coached the Owls to their first bowl victory in the1979 Garden State Bowl against California. That team finished with a program-high 10 wins and finished No. 17 in the Associated Press Poll, the first time an Owls team finished a season ranked.

Prior to his tenure at Temple, Hardin coached six seasons at Navy from 1959-64, compiling a 38-22-2 record and 5-1 record against Army. He led the Midshipmento the 1961 Orange Bowl and 1964 Cotton Bowl —his1960 Navy team ended the season ranked fourth by the Associated Press, and his '63 squad finished the season at No. 2. Hardin also coached two Heisman Trophy winners at Navy:Joe Bellino in 1960 and Roger Staubach in 1963.

“Coach Hardin was such a big part of all of our lives,” Staubach said in a statement. “He did a great job of staying in touch with not only all of his former Navy players, but his Temple players as well and we are all going to miss him. Coach Hardin was the first person to teach me how to read defenses. I was a quarterback that would pull the ball down and run at the first opportunity, but he taught me how to stay in the pocket and what to look for. He was one of the true innovators of the game of football.”

Hardin, who finished his coaching career with a 118-74-5 record,was inducted into the College FootballHall of Fame in 2013. He was just the third man associated with the Temple program to be enshrined, joining former coaches Glenn "Pop" Warner and Ray Morrison.